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Friday, February 03, 2012

Islamists win Kuwaiti parliament vote

Al Arabiya reports:

Kuwait’s Islamist-led opposition won the majority seats in a snap election for the wealthy Gulf state’s fourth parliament in less than six years, while women candidates did not win a single seat, according to official results released on Friday.

Sunni Islamists took 23 seats compared with just nine in the dissolved parliament, while liberals were the big losers, winning only two places against five previously.

No women were elected, with the four female MPs of the previous parliament all losing their seats.

The snap polls were held after the ruler of the oil-rich Gulf state dissolved parliament following youth-led protests and after bitter disputes between the opposition MPs and the government.

Opposition candidates and ex-MPs who spearheaded a movement to oust Sheikh Nasser al-Mohammed al-Sabah as prime minister were tipped to expand their influence in parliament, riding a wave of frustration at the impasse and perceived corruption.
The country is still run by the Emir and Prime Minister, both from the Al Sabah family, but this is an indication that things aren't quite going their way. (The endemic corruption in the previous parliament didn't help matters.)

Is there anyone who still believes that the "Arab Spring" is a liberal movement?